Writing in The New York Times, film critic Vincent Canby called LaMotta a “titanic character,” and said that De Niro gave “what may be the performance of his career.” Oscar voters agreed: De Niro won his first, and still only, Best Actor statue for the film.

When Raging Bull premiered in New York cinemas on 14 November, 1980 - followed by a nationwide release on 19 December - critics knew they were seeing something special. That kind of extreme physical transformation has since been attempted by actors ranging from Christian Bale in The Machinist to Tom Hardy in Capone. He also famously transformed his body twice - first sculpting himself into a muscular young fighter, and then gaining 60 pounds to play the boxer in his later years. (Photo: United Artists/ Courtesy: Everett Collection)įorty years ago, Robert De Niro stepped into the ring to play real-life boxer Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull, and set a new bar for screen acting that Hollywood stars have sought to live up to ever since.Īlready renowned for vanishing into characters like Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle and The Deer Hunter’s Michael Vronsky, De Niro burrowed deep into LaMotta’s troubled psyche, capturing the mixture of paranoia, self-pity and anger that fuelled his brief rise and long fall. Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.

Cathy moriarty raging bull